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Saturday, September 29, 2012

It's a Jessica E. Subject Weekend!

This weekend I am happy to be hosting author Jessica E. Subject! I first met Jessica when I started following Decadent Publishing. Jessica has some great stories and I have actually just picked up one after looking over her blog preparing for this post! So I won't keep you and I will let her tell you what she has to offer you.

Jessica Subject started writing to
encourage her daughter to read. Now she writes to keep herself grounded.
Although she reads many genres, she enjoys writing Science Fiction Romance the
most and believes everyone in the universe deserves a happily ever after. She
lives Southwestern Ontario, Canada with her husband and two kids and loves to
hear from anyone who has enjoyed her stories.

Thank you so much, Dawn, for inviting me back to your blog! It’s been an
exciting month for me with two releases. Today I’ll talk about Sudden
Breakaway, and tomorrow I’ll be back to talk about Crash Landing. Plus, I’m giving
away a $10 Amazon.com gift certificate, so be sure to read on...

Sudden Breakaway is my fifth story with Decadent Publishing’s popular
1Night Stand series and released at the beginning of September. It’s a little
bit different from most of my other stories, in that while there is some
science fiction involved, none of the characters you meet are aliens. The hero
and heroine are both from Earth, and the date takes place on this planet, at a
hockey game. Here are some fun facts about the story starting from the initial
idea to the final published product.

10 Fun Facts About Sudden Breakaway

I had originally planned this story to be an M/M
story with the Space Service recruiter mentioned in Unknown Futures, and
Jared. But that Space Service recruiter wasn’t cooperating, and Paige
appeared, more than willing to go on a one-night stand. Jared had no
objections.

Once Paige appeared, so did Jared’s niece and
nephew. Then the story fell into place.

Although not mentioned in the story, the hockey
game Paige and Jared attend is between the Washington Capitals, and the
Ottawa Senators (my favorite team). Since the date takes place in
Washington DC, that would make the rink at The Verizon Center.

I wrote one scene (excerpted below) after a
particularly trying day with a bunch of kids in my house (not all my own).

A Break From the Past was the original title of
the story. But since the date takes place at a hockey game, I thought
Sudden Breakaway was a more appropriate title.

During edits I learned that the custom to
automatically take off one’s shoes after stepping into someone’s house is
not common everywhere else. Must be a Canadian thing since we don’t want
to track winter snow through someone’s house. We even take our footwear
off at the doctor’s office. LOL

One of my awesome critique partners, DL Jackson,
helped me with military terminology and more. She knows what she’s talking
about from personal experience.

The hero’s name, Jared Barnes, comes from a
combination of two guys I had crushes on as a teen. Though I’m happily
married now and haven’t seen those guys since high school.

Dressed in her black designer suit, Paige Brown recruits men and
women for the Space Service. After the end of her marriage, and several failed
recruiting missions, she yearns to find a way out of her lifelong contract to
live a normal life. To find love again.

Jared Barnes’s life had been flipped upside down by two little kids.
When his former Commander’s wife shows up to give him a reprieve, he jumps at
the chance for a break, and to visit his former squad. But it is not his
buddies he meets in the private suite at the Washington Capitals game, instead
a woman who has been the star of all of his recent fantasies, fulfills his
wildest dreams except the one that binds his heart.

Has Madame Eve made a mistake or can two lonely hearts overcome
seemingly insurmountable obstacles?

What have I done? Jared yanked Dylan off
the top of the fridge, holding him under his arm as the kid tried to wiggle
free. “Superman can fly. You can’t. If you jump from that high, you’re going to
get hurt.”

Once the boy stopped squirming,
Jared set him down and rushed over to his niece, who had decided to scribble on
his white cell phone with a marker. “Madison, I know you love everything pink,
but my phone does not need a makeover.”

He grabbed the marker and she
squealed, escaping under the table and down the hall clutching his phone. His
morning had just begun. He couldn’t even take a leak without the kids finding
some kind of trouble. Yes, they went to daycare while he worked, but beyond the
hours of nine to five, they were all his, and on weekends, he had no pardon.
Why on Earth had he thought he could raise two preschoolers on his own?

The doorbell rang.

He glanced down the hall toward
the bedrooms, where an ominous silence reigned. With the children quiet, they
had to be plotting their next mission to destroy his sanity. Or perhaps they’d
already started. Shrugging, he headed for the door, risking a future disaster
to see who stood on his porch.

Dylan came charging at him, his
dark eyes wide, reminding him of his sister when she was a child. “Someone’s at
the door. Who is it, Uncle Jared?”

The boy skidded straight across
the slippery linoleum, his body slamming into Jared’s knees.

Jared stumbled back, trying to
regain his balance, and grasped the doorknob. The latch clicked open. Losing
his footing again, he stumbled to the floor, his nephew landing on top of him.
Groaning, he glanced up at the woman standing above him; his former commander’s
wife. “Can I help you, Mrs. Collins?

She lifted Dylan and balanced him
on her hip. “From the look of things, I think I can help you.” Slipping off her
shoes, she lined them on the mat beside the rest of the footwear and continued
into the house. “I’m giving you the day off.”

What? He’d dreamed about
time to himself since the day after his niece and nephew had arrived, but had
accepted that would never happen. Not until the preschoolers were old enough to
stay on their own, anyway.

He hopped to his feet, shut the
door, and followed them into the living room. Madison had materialized out of
nowhere, to join her brother, the pair of them sitting on either side of Mrs.
Collins, their lopsided halos balancing atop their horns. Why couldn’t they sit
as still when no one else was around?

Slumping onto a chair, he leaned
back and sighed. “How do you do it? How do you make them turn off?”

She chuckled. “I’m a guest. Trust
me when I say kids always behave better around people they don’t see every day.
Back to why I’m here. My daughter says every time she sees you grocery
shopping, you look ready to explode.”

He didn’t remember seeing the
commander’s teenage daughter, but any out-of-the-house excursions with the kids
resulted in him trying to get back home as soon as possible. He tried to avoid
running into anyone he knew. “I’m still getting used to having Madison and
Dylan here. It’s been quite a change.”

The woman wrapped an arm around
each child and snuggled them closer to her. “I always found I was a better
mother when I had time away from my kids. I came back to them with a new focus
and less stressed. But I had family around to take them here and there. Since
you don’t, I’m here to give you a break.”

As much as he needed the respite,
he worried about leaving his niece and nephew with someone else. What would
they do to poor Mrs. Collins? “I don’t know….”

“I raised three kids with Ernie
in the Marine Corps. Two are away at college, and my baby is a senior in high
school. I’ll be fine.”

He stared at the children,
resentful of their sudden change in behavior. He needed to get away for a
couple of hours. “Okay, you’re right. I’ll go get groceries and return right
after.”

She shook her head. “Not today.
You’re taking the rest of the day off. You need it.”

“No, I—”

“Think
of me as part of your team, Jared. That means you have to show some trust. I’ll
be by every Saturday to give you some time to yourself. Today, though, I’ve
planned something extra special for you.”

Giveaway!!

For your chance to WIN a $10 Amazon gift
certificate, simply leave a comment (with your email address) on today’s and/or
tomorrow’s post to be entered. Winner will be drawn the morning of October 1st
, 2012.

*Remember to stop come back tomorrow for more from Jessica E. Subject!!

21 comments:

It's my birthday today!!! Me me me pick meeeeeee! I LOVE you BOOKS. I can't wait to read more. And I'm so glad you're on this site because it's new to me and you know I am always looking for new sites for reviews and excerpts.

"During edits I learned that the custom to automatically take off one’s shoes after stepping into someone’s house is not common everywhere else. Must be a Canadian thing since we don’t want to track winter snow through someone’s house."In Hawaii, we do the same thing since leaving shoes on may be too formal (though we usually wait for the host to tell us what to do.)

Thanks, Lilian! It's definitely a custom I'm going to be more aware of when I'm visiting others. Here though, I don't even think about it. Just an automatic reaction, unless host tells me to leave them on. :-)

Great post & excerpt! I just discovered Jessica's books and read Beneath the Starry Sky yesterday. Loved it and looking forward to reading more. Can't wait for Sudden Breakaway... not only am I a huge hockey fan, I'm a Washington Capitals fan! ;)